Paralegal Salaries - Just What Are They?

Law jobs and paralegal jobs always rotate around - surprise! surprise! - salaries among other menial considerations like work/life balance, professional support, firm culture etc etc.

The AbovetheLaw blog asked about paralegal salaries and received these responses:


(1) intellectual property manager ("essentially a high-level paralegal position"), in-house position, Boston's South Shore, class of 2001: $80,000 (plus bonus and stock options; "straight 9 to 5 workday"; also attending law school in the evening);

(2) paralegal / case assistant, complex litigation defense, in the San Francisco office of a large law firm, class of 2004: $38,000 (plus bonus; last year's bonus was ~$1,000; roughly 45 hours/week, but if in trial, 50-60 hours/week);

(3) paralegal, real estate and tax, in the Washington, D.C. office of a large law firm, class of 2005: $41,000 (plus bonus of ~$1,500, and overtime pay of ~$15,000; 45-50 hours/week);and

(4) paralegal, litigation, at a large New York law firm, class of 2004: $38,000 ("plus lots of and lots of overtime; I haven't completed a year, but expect to make about $60K-$65K").

Additional comments from one respondent:

"That won't be at the high-end among our paralegals -- I know of at least a couple people here who have made over $90K in a year as a paralegal. Workload varies depending on case demand, but I personally vacillate between 50 - 60 hour weeks and 100+ hour weeks, when I feel like I can stand to bank some extra cash or am caught up in the middle of a big production. The highest earning paralegals are basically working 17 hour days every day and making double time the whole time."